I have changed no portion of the story
Most modern commentators would dispute this statement strongly, taking
exception both stylistically and substantively, and tending to see the
1831 edition as truly a reconception of the 1818 edition rather than the
tidying-up suggested here. But it is not entirely easy to focus
categorically on the differences between the texts. Some political
innuendos of moment in 1818, for instance, were no longer relevant to the
changed climate in the year before the Great Reform Bill, but that does
not mean that others -- for instance, the curious intrusion of imperialism
into the plot (see 1.5.7 and note) -- have not taken their place. Mary Shelley
did greatly rewrite the first chapter of 1818 breaking it into two
separate chapters in 1831. She similarly reworked the opening chapter of
Volume 2. Throughout her revision she endeavors to flesh out her
characters rather than merely to add descriptive elements to the novel.
In this regard, her most extensive elaboration is in making Victor's
account of his life from the very beginning subtly reflect the paranoid
mental condition to which experience has reduced him.
- Contexts:
- Critical Approaches:
- Themes:
